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Redneck Riviera Rush

8

850RadioDude

Guest
Why is Rush on that pitiful AM in this market (PC). I went to listen to it to hear Bush's interview and I had to search all over the dial. Does anyone in this market want to win? Take Rush off that pitiful station. This market is full of conservative Republicans and you will get the ears.
 
Whew! Had me confused there for a second; thought I'd posted something and then forgot I'd done it.

Are we talking about 1430? Yeah, that's always been a POS signal. Probably nothing a new tube or two wouldn't cure, but you'll probably have go over there and explain to them why it would be worth the $1000 investment so people could actually hear the programming...

Why isn't Rush on WYOO? Same reason: he costs money. You'll just have to learn to love Bill O., Clark Howard and Hannity unless you want to personally underwrite Limbaugh's fee. In a market that size? Maybe $30K a year? Make the check out to Magic Broadcasting, LLC.
 
Actually, this dates back about a decade.

Remember, at one time WYOO (101.1 FM) and WTLG (1430 AM) were business partners...you know, a good-ole simulcast. When WYOO was sold to Styles Broadcasting,(1996) the rights to Rush reverted to WTLG...what was then Hour Group Broadcasting. There was some sort of battle for Rush, but WLTG won in the end. He's been stuck on the AM dial in PC ever since.

It's not a matter of Magic writing a check. It's a matter of WLTG having the rights. There was a slight ratings downturn when Rush went AM only in PC, but WYOO recovered nicely. Rush needs the FM in PC worse than it needs him.

As for why WLTG's signal is so bad...it's only licensed for 5k watts. And its position on the dial doesn't lend itself to an overpowering signal. If I'm not mistaken the only place where WLTG shows up in the book is during Rush.

The only way you'll ever hear Rush on the FM dial in PC is if the owners of WLTG go belly up, or if Clear Channel ever flips one of its FM signals to talk. CC owns the distribution rights to Rush. All it takes is a simple 90 day notice to WLTG. But I don't think CC starting an FM talker in PC will ever happen.
 
WLTG has a fairly new Harris Solid State transmitter....so tubes are not the issue...They have state of the art processing (Orban 9200)...same as I have on 590...but being at the top end of the band, 5kw gets out about the same as a 1kw does on the bottom end of the band...that is a law of physics...WLTG's directional pattern (day and night) really is the main limiting factor for them......10-15 years ago, WLTG was offered one of the "X band" frequencies (1600-1700) which would have given them 10kw non directional day and night....there was a station somewhere in the southeast US that offered to buy them a transmitter and pay for retuning their antenna system and they turned it down.....now it can't be done....the frequencies in the X band are full for the most part.
 
One more thing....Rush has always protected his charter affiliates AM or FM...WLTG was a charter affiliate.....he will not allow the rights to be pulled....he has that written into his contract with Premiere
 
Charlie --- what do you NOT know??? Had a chance to get down to S. Walton for a couple of days of pure R & R.
Man, has the Miracle Strip been destoryed or what? I guess progress is a good thing and seems like PC/PCB ain't
gonna be sleepy for long. Maybe those raydio stations will pay for themselves after all. Most of the FM sigs
seemed pretty decent, you're on top of the game. Aren't you exclusive for CC? Still, the heart seems gone without
the Amusement Park. Do you know if there was a REAL REASON go close it (to expensive, problems with trouble
makers, etc.) or was it just $$$$$$$? Glad you're well. 590, ah...the days before 'the day.'
 
yep...you are right Tibbs the beach isn't the same....I was born here and lived here all my life except for one year (1983)....when I worked in Wash DC for NPR.....and my Jr and Sr year in college but I came home every weekend so I don't count that.... We used to have parties on the beach when I was in high school/jr college exactly where Spinnaker is.....but what has happened in the past 5 years is REALLY dramatic. My favorite watering hole was Salty's on the beach in the late 80's and through most of the 90's....it was bought out and closed to put in a condo but it never happened (yet)....Salty's opened up another place this Spring right down the road on the North side of Front Beach Rd, but it don't have the atmosphere that the old place had....too much new stuff ;D
Still having fun working for CC....I know most people on this list dislike them but they treat their employees right (IMHO) and give us the toys we need to do our job. If you aren't having fun in job, you need to find another job.
 
Forgot to say something about Miracle Strip Amusement Park....it was $$$$$ but several factors. Buddy Wilkes, the manager of the park is a good friend of mine...we used to work at Channel 7 in the late 60's and early 70's....I was an engineer and he did the weather on the 6 and 10 news....he told me they were offered $$$$ for the land and the liability insurance for the park was going out of site due to suit-happy people who would file law suits for injury at the drop of a hat just because someone spilled their cotton candy and their kid slipped and fell....by the way, the roller coaster went to a park in Georgia...they took it down piece by piece and loaded on several trucks and transported there and put it back together....what a job that was!!
 
I didn't know that about the roller coaster. It's good that someone is using it.
 
Thanks PCTV & Charlie--I do remember WLTG & YOO as a combo... and agree that WLTG's dial position and directional rig don't help them any. I'd suggest, though, that the ultimate problem with AM along that part of the coast is the terrible conductivity from all that sandy soil (soil???? OK, sand)! PCTV, up in the midwest, a 5000-watt AM can have a huge signal. On 1430, Indy's WXNT (the old WIRE) covers 8 counties with its 2.5 mV/m contour... and the half-millivolt goes from Illinois to Ohio--Danville to Dayton... and from the Ohio River damn near to South Bend--virtually the entire state. In PC, the identical property (5-kw @1430) can't reach the beach with 2.5 mV/m and the 0.5 mV barely covers Bay County. Too bad they passed up the x band opportunity...
 
Charlie,

Thanks for clearing up the engineering aspects of LTG's signal. I also forgot about Rush's passion in protecting his charter afilliates.

The Starliner roller coaster from Miracle Strip is now at Cypress Gardens near Winter Haven. Cypress Gardens is owned by the same people who own Wild Adventures outside of Valdosta, Georgia.

Charlie, how much longer do you think you'll do this? You've only been doing it what, 35 years now? But you seem to be having fun, so I guess that helps...
 
I know for a fact that Rush can be bought. It is all about the cash. There have been negotiations as recent as last year. Rush needs market share and if he can get it with a better signal plus get more cash, the loyalty goes out the window.
 
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